Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Yes, there is class today.

See you on class. Happy Halloween.

Monday, October 29, 2012

Video Mashup

Video Mashup

A video mashup is any video which as has been altered, edited, or re-ordered in order to alter its original use.

This mashup of video footage from Sesame Street along with the audio of Godfather is a great example. Martin Scorcese's Sesame Street

For this project you will create a video/audio mashup of not less than 4 minutes. You can get video footage from wherever you would like. There is a great deal of public domain footage readily available. For Tuesday, I would like you selected public domain video or bring in video clips that you made to begin editing and mixing using iMovie. Archive.org is a great source for public domain video. Download the Quicktime version of the files if available, otherwise the MPEG version of the file.
Find public domain audio to use. Archive.org also has a ton of audio clips. You can also take the audio from public domain videos. Or make your own audio from your own recordings or within Garageband.

For Monday, you should have some of the video and audio clips that you will use.  Monday & Wednesday will be spent working on the project in class. This a a creative/art piece. It can be really nutty.

Some student samples from previous terms:

THE MASHUP MUST TRANSFORM THE MEANING OF THE SOURCE MATERIALS!!!!
You can't make a fanboy tribute film, you can't make a music video, you can't just put random music with random footage.....

Helpful links:

PC World article on making a video mashup for YouTube

Great site which features step by step guide to making a video mashup



MacJams.com. Great resource for Mac musicians including some nice tutorials.


www.archive.org Fantastic source for public domain video and audio

http://www.archive.org/details/tobacco_oxl02b00

http://www.archive.org/details/JamisonFamilyFilms3

http://www.archive.org/details/movies

Resources for iMovie (Mac) and Windows Movie Maker (PC) can be found below:
Video Tutorials, Step-by-Step guides, and more
Download and install Windows Movie Maker for free on Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating systems
Windows Live project manager walks you through the new WIndows Live Movie Maker
Learn how to import movies and videos, edit video and audio, and more with Windows own Movie Maker guide


I suggest that you include a title and credits at the end which reference the video and sound that you used.

OLD STUFF IGNORE:
Last class I showed you how to export your layer based frame animation as a Quicktime Movie (.mov extension) and upload it to your blog. I then showed you how to drag that file into GarageBand to "score" it, which is a fancy way of saying we added sound to it. We then selected Share, Export to Disk, and selected Full Quality Video. This will preserve the quality of the video as when it came into GarageBand. It is important to note that GarageBand doesn't allow you to edit your video in any way. So, the video must be in its final form before being brought into GarageBand. 

Friday, October 26, 2012

iPad sculpting app that supports importation of .obj files


Forger is very similar to 123D Sculpt with the major difference being that it supports the importation of existing .obj files. It costs $2.99

http://forgerapp.com/

Monday we will be wrapping up the 3D Mashups

Hello all,

On Monday, October 29th, we will be wrapping up the 3D mashup project. So, please get as far as you can with it before class so that I can help you with any problems that may arise.

I am very excited about the mashups that you are coming up with. I am very impressed by the models that you are sculpting in Sculptris.

As I noted in class, I suggest you either combine your two (or more) models using TinkerCAD or Sculptris. Don't create a mashup in TinkerCAD then try to open it up in Sculptris as that doesn't seem to be working.

If a group of people are done with their models, I will walk through how the 3D printing process works and get a model under way.

On Wednesday, we will begin a video mashup project that will take a few weeks to complete.




Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Recap of Monday - what's going on Wednesday

Monday we learned about 3D modeling applications that mimic sculpting. Specifically Sculptris and 123D Sculpt (mashup assignment has links to these)

Wednesday is a work day. You have a completed mashup due on Monday.  Given this, I don't expect anyone to leave early on Wednesday.

Expect a quiz over the RadioLab program and related materials.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Hoke's Archive

Collection of 'Creative Zoology' that we looked at in class.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Meret Oppenheim

Excellent collection of Meret Oppenheim's surrealist objects in a Mondo post titled Meret Oppenheim is weirder than you

Friday, October 12, 2012

WATCH THIS

3D modeling used for actual models

Photography and 3D imaging are at a meeting point. There is much overlap. 3D modeling is beginning to replace lots of work that would have required photography in the past. If you take the Digital Photography class I will give you plenty of examples.

Article about using photos and 3D modeling for fashion applications.

NY Times article with a video about the process. It is essentially a much longer, harder way to do the same thing we are doing with 123D Catch.

Final results don't really seem any better than we can do with 123D Catch.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Due Monday before class starts

1. A completed 3D model made using 123D Catch. You don't have to do the clean up on it yet. Just allow 123D catch assemble it. If it looks 90% complete, then it will work for our application. If you are having difficulty with this, be sure to watch the numerous video tutorials available on the 123D website. Ideally, you will use this model for part of your mashup/remix. Later, should you chose not to use this model, then you will have to create another one.


2. Use any online storage service such as Google Drive, SkyDrive, iCloud, or Mozy to backup at least 1.5GB. (See the earlier post titled Do You Know Where Your Data Is?) Take a screen grab of the dialog that shows you have done so and post that to your blog. This will take quite some time, so be sure to allow for adequate time to accomplish this. THE SCREEN GRAB MUST SHOW THAT THE UPLOADS IS COMPLETED, NOT MERELY IN PROCESS.

3. Update/Install an anti-virus application on your home computer and run a full system scan. I suggest that you take the actions that it suggest (delete bad files, quarantine files, etc.). Take a screen-grab of that and post it to your blog. If you are using a subscription based service which as expired, then I suggest that you uninstall it and install Microsoft Security Essentials which is free. If you are using a Mac, then you don't have to do this part of the assignment as there aren't a lot of Mac threats out there yet.

If you having problems with your PC, then I suggest you check out the resources available for free from Microsoft's FixIt service. I have found it to be very helpful with my own computers.
If you suspect that you may have malware on your system that your antivirus program hasn't found or is preventing your antivirus program from running, then I suggest you run Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free.  



Do you know........ where your data is?



Do you have all your data backed up? Is it a current backup? Is it a complete backup? Haven't you lost data at some point in your life? I know you have......
At minimum you should have all the data on your computer backed up. This is to say, you should have a complete copy of all the data on your computer that you care about. There are a variety of ways to do this. You can choose to use an external hard drive hooked up via USB, firewire, or eSATA. You can also back up your data over a network. This can be saved over your local network or remotely on a server. Ideally, you should have an offsite copy of your data. This is to say that it is not on premises. This way, if the worst should happen, a fire or a flood, then your data will still be safe. Online backup has a ton of advantages. It is offsite and if you are using a reputable service, then they are keeping multiple copies of the data at multiple locations. The major drawback of online backup services are that the initial backup of your system can take a very long time. A few of the services offer an initial backup via an external hard drive. Then all subsequent backups are performed online. Mozy.com and a number of other online backup services offer a free 2GB service so that you can back up some data and get a feel for how it works.

Local Backup

Simple device to turn any external hard drive into an automatic backup system

Article on backing up automatically using SyncBack on a PC

Apple Time Capsule

Drobo

Internal Drives, Network Attached Storage, USB hard drives, firewire, eSata

Online backup

Good write up on how online back up works

Comprehensive listing on companies offering online storge

Crashplan - This is the service that I use. I have been very happy with it. It allowed me to recover my data after my laptop was stolen.

Mozy -offers 2GB of free online backup
ADrive

Monday, October 8, 2012

Chimera 3000: Surrealism and Science Remixed

"One could combine inside the same frame, elements not normally found together to produce illogical and startling effects," - Andre Breton - author of the Surrealist Manifesto. Breton included the idea of startling juxtapositions in his 1924 manifesto, taking it in turn from a 1918 essay by poet Pierre Reverdy, which said: "a juxtaposition of two more or less distant realities. The more the relationship between the two juxtaposed realities is distant and true, the stronger the image will be -- the greater its emotional power and poetic reality."

Openheim's most famous work was the fur lined teacup, or Object in fur produced in 1936 and it remains one of the icons of the Surrealist movement. It provoked the viewer into imagining what the fur lined cup might feel like to drink from and forces the disagreeable sensation on a mixture of the senses. Much of Surrealist work was an echo of everything this piece stands for, a mixture of humor, sexuality and provocation. <



Your next project is to create an Object Remix. This is essentially a remix of an object or living thing. Take two things, create 3D models of them, mash them up to make something new.

I'm a Mog! segment from the intellectual film Spaceballs!

This is Thomas Johnson's piece from Summer 2012.




Monday homework:
Listen to this RadioLab audio program titled (So Called) Life.  It's an hour long. It is about re-mixing life through biological engineering. It should get the ideas flowing.

Here is a link to Geeps which talks about other  hybrid animals. A mule is a hybrid animal after all.

American Museum of Natural History had an exhibit titled Mythic Creatures. It included many creatures which are a mashup of other creatures.

Great Creators Project article about remixing objects. Some excellent links in the article for additional reading. If you aren't familiar with the Creators Project, but sure to spend some time on the site. There is some really great stuff there.

Technical Stuff

Autodesk the maker of the super powerful Maya 3D modeling application also makes a very cool suite of free 3D modeling applications. The suite is called 123D.

123D Catch is an application that allows you to quickly make a 3D model using a series of photographs. You will use 123D Catch to create the first model for your mashup.




In order to create a YouTube video of you 3D model, you have to use the Desktop version of the software on a PC. There is an old PC in the digital lab. You an use it create the YouTube video. Just open up the desktop version of the program, sign in to your Autodesk account, download your model, make the video by setting key frames, and then export it to YouTube. This will require you to create a YouTube account. Once it is hosted on YouTube, making sure that it is shared publicly, copy the embed code for the video and use it to embed the YouTube video on your blog.&nbsp

TinkerCAD

TinkerCAD is a realitively easy to use online 3D modeling application. Wired magazine interview with TinkerCADs founder. You will be using TinkerCAD to mashup your models. Here is a Makerbot tutorial on how to import an object directly from Thingiverse into TinkerCad. The next article in the series explains how to make a mashup using TinkerCAD. **IMPORTANT NOTE** TinkerCAD only works with .STL files!!
TinkerCAD keyboard shortcuts.

MESHLAB is an open-source (meaning that it is totally free to use without any restrictions) application that allows you to do a number of handy things to your 3D models. You may need it to convert a .OBJ file to an .STL file for use with TinkerCAD. You may also need it to simplify a mesh so that it has less than 25,000 polygons which is the largest that TinkerCAD will allow you to work with.

Reduce the number of Polygons in your model

If you get the warning pictured above when trying to import your model into TinkerCAD, then you will need to use MeshLab to simplify it.
Install MeshLab then launch it. Go to File > Import Mesh then select your model.
Then follow the steps in this Shapeways tutorial.  Once you have done so,  go to File > Export Mesh As and choose .STL as show below. I suggest you add something to the name like 'LowPoly' so that you can easily distinguish between the the high and low poly count versions of the mesh.




Here is a rough mashup of a student's head (Jason) captured using AutoDesk's 123D Catch and a model of a sculpture I downloaded from Thingiverse.




This is a mashup of a student's head with a sculpture I made using 123D Sculpt on the iPad.


Sculpting in 3D

You will make your second 3D model using a 3D modeling program that is the digital equivialnt of sculpting.
You can make it using 123D Sculpt (only available on the iPad) or Sculptris which is available for both Mac and PCs for free.  Sculptris is nice as it allows you to import .OBJ files as a starting point. It will then allow you to export an .OBJ of the finished file. (This file must first be converted to a .STL file using MeshLab before attempting to open it in TinkerCAD. While in Meshlab, be sure to check if the model has too many faces. If it does reduce the number of faces before exporting the model as a .STL file).

If you use 123D Sculpt, in order to get your model onto your computer, you have to save it to the 123D Gallery. Then access it through the MyCorner feature of the web app on a computer. If you are going to work on it using TinkerCAD, download the .STL file. If you are going to work on it using Sculptris, then download the .OBJ file.

OPTIONAL MATERIAL THAT YOU MAY FIND OF INTEREST

Here is a nice Instructables article about how to use 123D Catch in conjunction with Mesh Mixer to create a 3D print ready model easily printable on a MakerBot.This article is a little dated now as you can now make the object 'watertight' (without any holes in it) using the online tools in 123D Catch.
Here is an article that tells you how to modify a mesh into a creature using the tools in MeshMixer. When MeshMixer works, it's awesome, but it is really buggy with a difficult user interface

Here is an Instructables article about using 123D Catch and other programs to make a figurine of someone!

Here is an Intructables article about how to add a 3D model of your face to another 3D model! It requires the use of Blender though. Next semester, i will be teaching a course on 3D modeling and animation. We will use Blender in that class.

Friday, October 5, 2012

How to put your Typology images into a grid layout using PS

NOTE: I don't care what program you use to put together your Typology. PS, Pixlr, GIMP, Paint.Net, etc. This write up is for PS though you should be able to readily modify it for another program.

Now, you are going to take your individual images and combine them into a single image consisting of a grid of portraits. You are going to create the completed grid with adequate resolution and quality to make a print of no less than 16" in the shortest dimension @ 300ppi. Since 16 x 300 pixels = 4800 pixels wide, this would be appropriate resolution for your width. Create a new image with pixels dimensions of 4800x4800.

Then open all 16 of them and edit them all. Make sure that the cropping and editing of the images is consistent. I would like you to edit them all using Levels.

After you images are cropped and edited, you need to re-size them all to an appropriate size. In class, I went through all the math on the board. Basically, you have 4800 pixels from left to right to use.
I decided that I wanted each of my spaces (the right and left border and the spaces between the images to be 1/4" wide. Since you set up the image to be 300ppi, 1/4" would be 75px. Since there are 5 of them total, 75px x 5 = 375. To determine how many pixels are available for each of your 4 images that will span the 4800 total pixels, you subtract the pixels used by the space from the total: 4800 - 375 = 4425 pixels. Divide that by 4 to get 1106.25 pixels available for each of the 4 images. We will just use 1106px as there is no such thing as a fractional pixel.

So, resize all your images so that 1106px is the width. 

To place the individual images together, for each image go to Select > Select All. Then Edit > Copy. Then go to the large white image you created. Then Edit > Paste.

Turn on the grid. Make sure snap is on (click the View menu to check). By default, the grid it is marked every 1/4 inch.

Select one of the layers. Move the first image into place and let it snap to the grid. When using the Move tool, if you have the AutoSelect option turned on in the Options bar, you will find it much easier to use.

You will still need to use pixel shims to insure that the space between each image is accurate. Create a new image 75x4800px. Use that for a vertical shim. Duplicate it as needed. Rotate one to the right and duplicate for the horizontal shims. Since the grid is present and Snap is on, you can just position the shims and images quickly to complete your grid. 

If you cropped your images horizontally or vertically, then you may need to crop once the 16 images are laid out or add canvas to the bottom as needed.

When you are done, be sure to save a version with layers intact (a .PSD file) as well as a version with the layers flattened (.JPG file).

To add a background color, just use the paintbucket tool to fill in the background layer with the desired color. 











Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Fancy way to complete this project - for the VERY advanced user

Now, you are going to take your individual images and combine them into a single image consisting of a grid of portraits. You are going to create the completed grid with adequate resolution and quality to make a print of no less than 16" in the shortest dimension @ 300ppi. Since 16 x 300 pixels = 4800 pixels wide, this would be appropriate resolution for your width.

Before you begin, be sure to have your images fully edited. I suggest you edit them all at once using Adobe Camera Raw. Browse to them all using Bridge. Control click (right click) and select open in Adobe Camera Raw. Edit them all. Save them all into a new folder.

Then open PS. Go to File > Scripts > Image Processor. Re-size all you images to an appropriate size. Be sure save them into a new folder (though I believe by default it will save them into a folder named JPEG assuming you are saving them as JPEGs). In class, I decided I wanted them all to be 2" wide, so each image was 600 pixels wide (300ppi x 2"). I decided to use 1/4" borders between everything. So, each border is 75 pixels.

If you have an assortment of horizontal and vertical images, you have to make a few decisions. One option is to crop them all to the same orientation. If you only have a few, then I suggest you go that route. If it is roughly a 50/50 mix, then I suggest you re-size all your images so that the longest dimension is 600px.  Then, layout your grid as though there are 600x600 pixels squares for each image. Then just center your image within that area of the square. That will results in borders that are not uniform in width, but all the images will be equidistant from each other based on their centers (which is to say, it will still look good).

Using Bridge, browse to the folder containing the newly re-sized images. Select them all, then from the main menu go to Tools > Photoshop > Open as Layer Stack. This will open them all up as individual layers in a single image.

Save that image. You can use this as the basis of your animated video (extra credit, plus it is cool).

Re-size your canvas. For this one I set the width to 4800 pixels wide as discussed above. The dimension that you pick for the height isn't that important now as you can add or crop off canvas from the bottom as needed. I suggest you just go with 4800 pixels high to get started. Keep the stacked layers in the top left when you do the re-sizing.

Then go to Image > Canvas Size and set the width to 16".

Turn on the grid. Make sure snap is on. By default, it is marked every 1/4 inch. If that doesn't work for you, then you will have to go into Preferences and change the grid preferences.

Select one of the layers. Move the layers into place and let them snap to the grid. Not the that your layers are stacked. Are they in the right chronological order? I suggest that you order them chronologically. If they were all taken with the same camera, then they should be automatically stacked in the right order. If you use multiple cameras, you will have to sort the layers out before placing each image within the grid.

Keep doing this until you run out of space. Add canvas to the bottom as needed. When you are done, be sure to save a version with layers intact as well as a version with the layers flattened. Crop off any extra space from the bottom when you are done.

To add a background color, just make a new layer at the very bottom of the layer stack and fill it with any color that you want.





Tuesday, October 2, 2012